You are here

Marino Votes for Balanced Budget Amendment

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Tom Marino, PA-10, said Friday that House Democrats missed an opportunity to “bring common sense to Washington” when they blocked the first step toward a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution.

Marino voted in favor of HJ Res 2 which called for an amendment to the Constitution to mandate that Congress only spend the money it takes in each year. The House voted 261-165 in favor of the amendment, short of the two-thirds majority (290 votes) required in order for the resolution to pass.

Marino said he voted in favor of the resolution because it is “long overdue.’’

“Americans practice common sense in their homes and in their businesses and it is time we practice common sense in Washington,” Marino said. “You cannot spend more than you take in.”

The constitutional amendment is needed, Marino said, because Congress has shown that it rarely passes a balanced budget.

“Congress can always pass a balanced budget and we have passed laws calling for one,” Marino said. “But Congress has only passed a balanced budget a few times in the last five decades. When it is inconvenient, they have waived it. If we have a constitutional amendment, we have to follow it.